Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1887-11-03

oolcct, taxatlon-
A Protective Tariff, as It is called,
does not do this, but is levied not only /
TO procure revenue for the government,
but also for the purpose of putting
money into the pockets Of private in
dividuals, and often great deal more
than the Government gets.
Tor example, when Congress in 1851
put duty OF 100 per cent upon salt in
bags, and about 2O0 per cent upon salt
in bulk, il compelled the importer to
put up the price of his salt just this
much, and of course the 0nondaga Salt
ompany did the same, and made a
prolit OF one and two hundred per cent
more than they were making before.
The dnty was so high that it practically
excluded all foreign salt, so that the
Cnlonaga salt Company had monop-
DIV OF the market east of the Allegheny
monrta MS, and literally coined money
un Il few years % when, through the
inau nee OF Senitor Blair of Missouri,
the ~ v was reduced.
IL $ company only had a capital OF
Sc u n,ani yet its manager under oath,
adl..ttrd to the special commissioner OF
tho Treasurer that they were making
oLrnll ion dollars a year.
hi WAS protection witE a vengeance,
brit / is q tair sample OF the workings
, Vi i l. ,i, ctive system. i
y b'll,v,r q duty is levied upon an
arrle y liIeh is also produced in this
cru arr. it not only increases the price
OF tn, Imported article to the extent of
the duty, but it also increases the price
OF the home article to that extent, and
. Al. Ab,o, .holn ..fi ~
W atever duty is paid upon the i'm
ported article, of course goes TO the Gov
ernynent, but whatever is paid upon the
hoaie article goes into the pockets OF
the home manufacturer.
The oil. ect of protection is to increase
the pr ce of the article taxed, and the
ne rrr they come to prohibiting its i'm
portat.on the better it suits them, and
In tins way many millions are extorted
IRON the taxpayers every year, in adj
dition to what is paid the Government.
THIS may be protection to a few
thousand manufacturers, but it is death
to the remainder of the American peo-
pie.
The truth is, the word protection
is an invention of the Devil to deceive
the people. Its meaning in English is
extortion and robbery.
know it is claimed by protectionists
that the tariff duties are not paid by the
consumer.
In the name of common sense who
then does pay them2 Surely the inn
porter is not philanthropic enough to
| donate the duty to the Government.
He buys the article at the lowest
| price possible to leave margin OF pro-
| fit, and unless he adds the duty he
must sell at loss. The retailer must
do the same or go into bankruptcy, and
| the result is the consumer must pay it,
| and does pay it.
| NV good friend Gov. Foraker denies
all this and in his article in the August
F,rum says: THE old stock argument
| OF the free trader, that tariff duties are
| tax on the consumer, has been so
completely exploded by practical re-
suits that it is no longer heard OF, except
only from those who obstinateiy refuse
to see the conclusive demonstration to
the contrary that abound on every
4 hand" s
Those of us, however, who believe to
the contrary are in very good company,
as W II be seen from ar port on man
VI ,tlres by John Quincy Adans. th'
j WI i liy namesake of'the disiin4nishr,
sIIlrman who addressed ms tl-l3v.
AMI who discussed this point so gnilv
| that it is hardly necessary for Lie to re-
Ter to it again.
MIR. Adams says: "Ths doctrina that
duties OF import cheaper the prize OF
the article seems to conflict with TN !
i IN n IL.
duty constitutes part of the price OF
The whole mass OF the article. in the
| market. 1t is substantially paid upon
The article OF domestic anuiafture rs
well as upon that OF foreign pro uction,
| Upon one it is a bounty, upon the other
burden, and the repeal OF the tax
must operate as an equivalent re uc-
ton OF the price OF the article, whether
foreign or domestic We say, SO long
as the importation continues, the duty
must be paid by the purchaser OF the
article"
Some protectionists however, do not
deny that the consumer pays the duty,
| but claim that by so doing the farmer
builds up manufactures who create a
market for his farm products at prices
4 so much higher than he would other
wise get that he can afford to pay the
duty and make money by it.
Let us look at this in the light of
statistics.
4 There are now 6O,00o,00O Of people in
the United States. OF these artor,iin!
to the last census only 5, 377,ll3 were
engaged in any form of manu- tiir S oil
mining, and OF these not niora than
by any stretch OF the imagination car
be considered as built up Nv the tariff
Take for example brick makers who
number 26,iI0; Brick and stone ma
4 sons who number 1G2, +1Ii; ca pentpr
4 and joiners who number 377.'', Ii:3,; paint
crs and varnishers who numb r -,
y56. plasterers, who number ..2.0Si
roofers and skaters, who number AGES
shin2le and lath makers who numbe
5,l6b, and all other classes OF mechanic
who assist in building houses.
Flow are they helped BY the tari ff
Surely John Bull will not impor
houses, even If we had no tariff at all.
What these mechanics want j
cheaper material, SO that more hausel
which enter into the building an linrn
ishing of houses, and you relluc,i the eos
at least one third, and that Of rours
I means more houses, and II more hous
then more work, and II more work tia
means higher wages, and the larger tht
demand the better the price.
y So with the great army ol blacksmith
numbering l72,726, how in the wotl
can Q tariff help themi What the
want is cheap iron, cheap steel, an